The New Orleans Saints have a difficult task ahead: Flushing a frustrating loss to the Eagles as they turn toward a key divisional class with the Falcons in Week 4.
But still, despite the low-scoring affair and late-game stumbles in the 15-12 loss, there were clear positives to draw from the result, as Saints GM Mickey Loomis explained this week on WWL
“Typically if you get, I mean, we get two turnovers, we get I think two 4th down stops, the blocked punt, you know, those things typically lead to about an 80 and a 90 percent winner," Loomis told Mike Hoss, "and so when you don’t get the win after those kind of events, that makes it definitely hard to swallow.”
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Saints GM Mickey Loomis in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The Saints forced multiple turnovers and got multiple 4th down stops while also blocking a punt on special teams and keeping Philadelphia off the scoreboard through three quarters.
One of the reasons things played out the way they did was less positive, and that was with a groin injury to Erik McCoy that will require surgery for the Pro Bowl center. McCoy went out on the third play of the game and was replaced by veteran Lucas Patrick, with a stout Eagles defensive front taking full advantage.
"It’s gonna be a little while," said Loomis regarding McCoy's timeline. The Saints will have to rely on their depth to shuffle the OL in the best way possible, which means potentially veterans like Oli Udoh, Landon Young and Shane Lemieux in the mix, with the latter player still sitting on the Saints' practice squad as of Wednesday.
“I think our guys have done a great job of identifying offensive linemen that can help us," Loomis said, "and look, in this day and age of football you’re gonna need those guys. ... Lucas Patrick is kind of in that same mold. He’s a veteran player that’s had a lot of starts in his career, you know, has come in and, you know, did a really good job at left guard for us and had to move over to center after Erik’s injury and those are just valuable guys to have.”
MORE FROM MICKEY LOOMIS
On teams being more aggressive in 4th down situations
“I think that that’s a product of these analytics that, you know, teams are buying into now and look, the numbers say that over time it’s an advantage to go for it in a lot of situations, and so, you know, we have teams and coaches that buy into that and probably rightfully so, I mean, it’s risk versus reward and I think the one thing that doesn’t get considered enough is, look, it’s all well and good to go for it on 4th down, but do you have a play that you really love, that you feel really good about it being successful as opposed to just going for it to go for it, and so – but I think that it’s a product of risk-reward and the math and, you know, the value of analytics.”
...
“We have some guys that do a great job in that area and I look at it, and I think most teams look at it this way: It’s a tool in the toolbox, and it’s going to help you make decisions as opposed to making the decisions for you. I think – I think that’s the way those most of the coaches in our league look at is, is look, they want the information. Ultimately it’s their decision and sometimes you go with that, sometimes you go with your gut.”
On run game focus across league early in the year
“Well, I think first of all it’s early in the season. I do think that, you know, there’s this idea, and it’s true for the most part, is that it takes a while for offenses to get going in our league, you know, because of the way that we operate in the preseason, a limited number of practices, the timing required, particularly in the pass game, that just takes time to gel oftentimes, particularly if you have a new staff, new coaches, a different quarterback, different skill position people, shuffling on the O-line. It just takes time to, you know, to get in sync, so to speak, so it’s easier to do that, I think, with the run game and certainly, you know, one of the advantages of running the ball is that, look, you’re controlling the clock and the best defense is to keep the other team’s offense off the field, so there’s a lot that goes into that. I do think that it’s trending that we’re getting back to the run game somewhat, but we’ll see where that goes the rest of the season.”
